Who is your favorite coach?

Frank Carroll is my favorite coach. He was a student of Mirabel Vincent-Owen and has passed on her skating philosphy to many skaters over the years. He "created" Michelle and is now Mirai's coach. I expect great things from Mirai and think she is fortunate to have Frank as her coach.

I second Janetfan. He certainly seem to be a good at helping skaters find their style and consistency, although he's no magician (Bebe Liang.) People say he is known for making his skaters do full run throughs all the time. Is this true? I'm always confused by this. Why WOULDN'T a skater do a full run through?

Seems like some notable names are missing from this list. Galina. Brian Orser. Richard Callaghan. The Scotvolds. (or are they retired?)

I second Janetfan. He certainly seem to be a good at helping skaters find their style and consistency, although he's no magician (Bebe Liang.) People say he is known for making his skaters do full run throughs all the time. Is this true? I'm always confused by this. Why WOULDN'T a skater do a full run through?

Seems like some notable names are missing from this list. Galina. Brian Orser. Richard Callaghan. The Scotvolds. (or are they retired?)

It's too bad that the you can only list maximum of 10 choices in the poll. I wanted to add more folks like Orser, Tom Zakrajsek and Galina but I tried to put up a mix of long time coaches and recently popular coaches. I wish poll were allowed to have more than 10 choices.

Yes, there are so many great coaches out there, known and unknown. Hard to choose one favorite. And I am sure it's individual which coach suits a certain skater. Some skaters change often and some stay true to one their whole career. Lucky the ones who find the right coach in early days.

Anyway, my vote goes to John Nicks. I am always happy to see him in the K&C. Especiallly when he sits beside Sasha Cohen. He seems so friendly and nice.

John Nicks moved from Great Britain to California to help rebuild US skating, following the plane crash in 1961, when US lost the entire team and many top coaches. Since then I think he has been coaching mostly US skaters. I know I saw Mr Nicks in K&C at last worlds, but I don't remember who his pupil was.

Wow, thanks Janetfan. I love discovering new programs and new skaters from the past. I didn't really know about Caryn Kadavy. Lovely. (and kudos for wearing a tasteful costume in the 80s I guess she was one of those with potential to win a world or olympic gold but didn't get there. But very polished. I would have enjoyed watching her very much.

Carlo Fassi was obviously a legendary coach. Didn't he coach Nicole Bobek right before he died? I thought the thread was more for current coaches, although I suppose John Nicks is borderline. Is he basically retired?